Earl’s group expands property base
View(s):The new property is being built by the Earl’s Group at Bandaranaike Mawatha in Kurunegala with 36 rooms and two banquet halls, the company’s Sales and Marketing Manager Dhinuk De Mel told the Business Times on Tuesday.
He noted that the new hotel would be completed for the winter season and is expected to attract a number of travellers who would use the Kandy Expressway that would ply across Kurunegala.
They would mostly cater to local weddings through its new banquet halls, and the hotel itself would be a boutique luxury property, he explained.
In addition, the group has plans of taking over a property in Negombo which is currently under negotiation. Once the plans are finalised this would be the first property for the Earl’s Group in Negombo, a 4- star hotel scheduled to open in December this year, Mr. De Mel said.
The Earl’s Reef Beruwala property bought over from Mackwoods has been renovated and newly refurbished at a cost of close to Rs.1 million before opening up for operations in December 2016, Mr. De Mel explained. This property of 55 rooms is mainly catering to the European markets and the emerging markets as well.
The 4-star hotel comprises one spa, one restaurant, one bar, sea view rooms and three suites.
Currently the group has five properties in Kandy with one of them being managed by the Aitken Spence group (Earl’s Regency). However, the group has no plans at the moment to enter into a collaboration with other partners in its new properties, Mr. De Mel said. Commenting on opening up in the East, he noted that though they own land there, they were not looking at opening up any new hotels in that part of the country yet.